"'This is your night';' says Chris.
"I originally had that in, but it was too corny," says Neil.
They pick at their food.
"I've never been this tense about something in my entire life,"
says Neil. "You have so many highs and lows. You have unbelievable
lows." He turns to Chris. "On Saturday, when you were at the
boxing..."
"Football."
..... it was awful. I said to Gemma on Monday, 'how suicidal were you
on Saturday, on a scale of one to ten?' She said, 'twelve'."
They choose this moment to reflect on the music they have written for
the show. "Chris Nightingale said there's three types of song;' says
Neil. "One: Big numbers and set pieces -'Positive role model', 'My
night', 'Caligula'.
Chris sips some white wine. 4'We should have a pot of tea
with fi8h and chips;' he observes.
"The second half is so draining;' says Neil, then adds, uit's quite
possible to go through life just quoting Billie Tricks." He says
to Chris:
"What do you think of the line, which I really' hate, 'you've given
the best a woman could give'? I find it a bit misogynistic.'
"Isn't the whole play a bit misogynistic?" provokes Chris.
"I hope it's not," says Neil earnestly.
"I don't think it is;' says Chris.
They walk back over to the theatre.
"We're not even the performers;' laughs Chris.
"Thank God for that," says Neil. He smiles. "It's a big
day in our lives, this. 'What are you doing tonight?' we're just opening
our first West End musical."
"Oh God," says Chris. "Oh dear."
They try to sneak in without the fans noticing. It's difficult - the
stage door is right by the entrance. "Why can't it be round the back
like any other theatre?" Chris complains.
Backstage, you can hear the cast warming up their voices. Chris looks
at a Pet Shop Boys interview which is stuck to the wall. "'Well into
their forties'," he reads out, laughing. Paul Keating wanders about,
his shirt off.
"Why are you not doing warm-ups?" Chris asks him.
"I've got choreography notes," he says.
"Is there not an empty dressing-room?" Chris asks no one in
particular. "With a sofa? I
word."
need half-an-hour's kip." He well knows that there isn't. "I
could at least do with a chair," he mutters. "There must be
somewhere to sit."
They cram themselves into the small production office. "You know;"
says Chris, "it's very like the back office of Heaven." Heaven
is one of London's most popular nightclubs; they will sometimes have to
explain to people that the "Heaven" in the title of the musical
has no relation to the nightclub of the same name.
Neil puts some King champagne they've been sent into the little fridge
by the door. "Very Jeffrey Archer," he says.
"I'm going to take mine home," Chris declares.
"Typical north-westerner;" says Neil. "That's what Bernard
would do." He stands up. "I've got to go and rehearse my speech."
"We could be watching East Enders," says Chris. He smiles
at the sound of the singers' continuing vocal warm-ups. "It's great
when they go up a key." Then he sighs. "Bloody hell, I'm knackered."
He plays with some scissors on the desk, then looks at them. "Even
the scissors are from IKEA," he says. He fiddles some more. "I
feel quite nervous, funnily enough," he repeats. "I wouldn't
feel quite as nervous if I had a sofa to lie on." He gets a good
luck text message from a friend. "I wonder if I'll have a panic attack,"
he says. "I was sick last time, during the workshop, when it was
all falling apart. We think it was a panic attack. I've never had one
before." He sits back. "It's fanny, isn't it?" he laughs.
"A lot of groups have talked about 'that musical we've always promised
ourselves'. Very few have gone this far."
Neil returns from his private speech rehearsal. "I feel like I'm
going to be sick," he says.
"Maybe we should have a chill pill," says Chris, half-quoting
the musical.
"My heart's beating," says Neil.
"Is it beating like a drum?" Chris asks. "Going boom boom
boom?"
"I don't know that it is," says Neil.
Chris worries that the Pet Shop Boys have made an etiquette blunder.
They haven't got anything for the cast,
"Aren't we meant to get them something?" he asks Neil.
"May 31st," says Neil, meaning that they're supposed to buy
the cast something on opening night.
"We could get them some merchandise," Chris suggests.
Neil studies his notes, and scribbles.
"Are you still refining your speech?" Chris asks. "You
could still bottle out."
"I'm not going to bottle out," Neil says.
"You could always read a Shakespeare sonnet
- that's what you'd normally do," Chris suggests.
"'This is sonnet 110, for those opening their first musical',"
mugs Neil.
"'We've decided to open our musical at a south London school',"
says Chris. (The Labour party has just opened their election campaign,
to much ridicule, with a Tony Blair speech at just such a school.) "You
should get Neil to talk about Geri Hallowell," he says. "She's
hijacked the election to promote her album. Talk about shameless."
Neil practises his speech some more.
"Are you having a spotlight?" Chris asks.
"No," he says, "I'm too sweaty." He considers this.
"I need some perfume," he says. "I feel sweaty. I need
some cologne. I'm going to go to the men's room, see what they have."
Soon he is back. "I'm wearing Armani, by the way." He reads
the theatre programme, in which the Pet Shop Boys have insisted on the
briefest and simplest biography. He is amused to note that Stacey Roca,
who plays Shell, has an ever shorter one. "Stacy has out-cooled us,"
he acknowledges.
"What time are we starting?" Chris asks.
"8.15 is my speech," says Neil. "For many people
the highlight of the show."
Someone shouts that it is now 8.05.
"Oh crikey," says Neil.
"Oh deary me," says Chris.
Chris flicks through the programme. "'Order the CD now'," he
reads. He laughs. They've barely started making it.
The clock ticks on.
"Maybe I could go to the toilet," says Chris.
"What a good idea," says Neil.
Chris goes, and returns.
"We're going to light up the night with fire..." sings Neil.
"God, I hope we get through that first number," says Chris.
"It's a bloody big number."
They sit there, waiting.
"I'm voting Green," says Chris. "I care about the environment,
me. I think it's the number one issue for the world. No one ever says
these resources are finite. One day there'll be a huge panic that there's
no oil left." He holds up the bottle of water in his hand. "Look
at this. What a waste."
They move into the hallway, in preparation. Neil goes to the bathroom
and Chris discusses the crowds at Arsenal with Paul Broughton who plays
the loud, uncouth pop manager Bob Saunders.
"Can you come down?" a woman shouts.
"Neil's still on the toilet," says Chris. "Neil"
he hollers, "you're delaying the show."
Neil appears soon alter, and while Chris vanishes to the back of the
auditorium Neil makes his way towards the stage - as the crowd applauds
- until he is standing just in front of the stage, where he says: "I
just wanted to welcome you all to the Arts Theatre tonight. It's a very
exciting night for us, because it's the first public performance of Closer
to Heaven. The official first night is on May 31st but this is the
first preview. Chris and I have been working with Jonathan Harvey on this
for; on and off, about five years now - over the last year with the Really
Useful Group, with the director, designer, choreography, technical people,
cast, so it's a giant collaboration. Tonight the collaboration includes
you, because you're the first audience to see this and we want to feel
your energy." After which there is a big whoop and more applause.
"The first rehearsal finished about two hours ago," Neil continues,
"so..." He breaks to say something else, because since he has
been speaking, he has been doing so under a steady barrage of flash bulbs.
"Could people not take photographs during the show, please?.. If
there are any technical hitches, will you please bear with us, and I hope
you enjoy it. Thank you very much."
The lights go down, Billie Tricks appears, framed by the bulbs of a backstage
make-up mirror in a nightclub, and the first public performance of Closer
to Heaven begins.
Afterwards,
backstage, the mood is jubilant. Some of the performers mutter about mistakes
made, but these were not the kind of mistakes the audience could notice,
and the audience quite obviously loved it.
"It
goes from tragedy to triumph very quickly," notes Chris. "It's
very moral. When there's been a really sad scene, you don't know whether
to clap."
They both
look happy, and very relieved. Neil takes a bottle of champagne into the
dressing rooms, and a little celebrating begins.
May 29,
2001. Chris and Jonathan Harvey have agreed to do a live web chat on virgin.net
to promote the musical. They meet at the virgin.net offices in Leicester
Square.
"You
can type fast, can't you?" Chris asks Jonathan. "You can speak
in my tongue, can't you?"
"Yes,"
says Jonathan.
"God,"
sighs Chris. "It's two days to go."
They are
taken into the room where the web chat will take place. Four computer
screens are lined up on a table. The idea is that they will sit in front
of one, but that a man on one side will select the questions which appear
in the chat itself, and that a woman by the window will type in their
answers.
"We
don't have to type?" says Chris, sounding disappointed. "I think
it'd be good, me typing slowly."
The announced
start time arrives and passes. There is a technical problem, and people
run around tapping at keys and pulling at cords. This goes on for a while.
"We're
not keeping our fans waiting, are we?" says Jonathan.
The questions
begin. It is a slow process. They are asked a question, they answer it,
and something of what is said is then typed in by a woman at the end of
the room. So, for instance, Chris is asked how long they have been making
records.
"Eighteen
years," he says.
"218
yeas," the typist types, then, when Literally points out the
slight error, corrects it.
The early
questions are a little dull. Both Chris and Jonathan are a bit surprised
that there's nothing spicier, and it takes a while to realise that many
questions are being kept from them. "Isn't there anything saucier?"
Chris complains. "Let's choose our own, shall we?"
They also
realise that for the first half of the chat the virgin.net people have
been asking them old questions sent in before the chat started, and not
letting them see the comments coming in live on the chat-site, so that
by the time they do see the live continents, there are plenty of suggestions
that Chris and Jonathan are not really there because they don't seem to
be reacting to anything anyone is saying. After that, the chat gets much
better, though Chris and Jonathan still don't realise that the typist
is often summarising what they have said - often in a way which doesn't
sound like them, and often misunderstanding the gist of what they're saying.
The typist also adds little bits of computer speak
- like Chris
"saying" LOL (laughing out loud) -which he would never have
typed himself. "Lots of computer prat stuff"' he fumes later.
This is
the full text of the chat, not as it necessarily happened, but as it was
later posted for posterity on virgin. net:
Jane:
What made you want to do a musical? Jonathan: I've always been a big fan
of musicals. It felt like a natural progression from writing straight
plays.
Chris:
Jonathan's always used music in his plays, sometimes Pet Shop Boys music...
It was a natural thing for us to want to do, because like in Spinal
Tap it's one of those things rock groups always promise themselves.
When you've been making records for 18 years, it's something fresh and
exciting. Also we found that when we've done our own shows we've worked
with people in the theatre and we like the way they work, the intellectualism
you get, the way the costume designers and choreography all come together,
it's totally different from the music industry. Mikey: Did Jonathan approach
the PS~ about
doing a
musical, or was it the other way around?
Jonathan:
The Pet Shop Boys approached me.
The BBC
wanted to do a television musical and suggested me as writer. Chris: We
particularly liked Jonathan's play Beautifully Thing. Phil: Jonathan
- have you written any plays before?
Jonathan:
13 plays, one film and a bit of TV Mikey: I heard that Closer to Heaven took about six years to get to stage after inception. Why did it take
so long, and are you planning to do another musical? Jonathan: It took
six years because we spoke about it one day and had the first meeting
a year after. For the first few years we only worked on it a few weeks
a year; because we were working on other things. Chris: The whole process
is a lot more complicated than making a record. With a musical you're
writing it, but you haven't got any kind of deal. You have to get people
interested in it and making it work from the initial stages - you don't
know how it's going to work. It's a real learning process. It was only
last year when we did a workshop that we realised how much work needed
doing on the piece. Having said that, the time seems to have flown by.
But we've also been touring, putting out an album and Jonathan's been
doing other work -two series of a sitcom.
Joemoz:
Have any tracks from the musical been marked as singles yet? "My
night"? Chris: Yes. We're thinking of releasing "Positive role
model", sung by Paul Keating. None of the songs in the musical will
be released as singles performed by the Pet Shop Boys, but produced by
the Pet Shop Boys and Stephen Hague. Toni: Jonathan - do people always
remember you for Beautiful Thing? Do you want to write something
that will replace that as your main claim to fame? Jonathan: People do
remember me for Beautifully Thing, but that doesn't bother me.
Toni: Pet Shop Boys, do you get pangs of nostalgia for Eighties music
when you were on Top Of The Pops with all the other Eighties artists?
Chris: No,
I don't really like living in the past. I'm not really into retro stuff.
I think the most exciting time is always the present. Having said that
I think the Eighties were fantastic, it wasn't the decade style forgot.
1988-89 was my favourite time ever. It was film, inspirational - it was
when the Nineties began, all the house music.
Rachel25:
What do you think about the Mamma Mia musical, have you seen it?
Jonathan:
I really, really like Mamma Mia, though I didn't like the audience.
They talked through all the speaking and joined in with all the songs.
Chris: I
like Abba's songs, but I never need to hear them again. I thought the
show was ghastly (laughs) and nothing like Closer to Heaven. Prm2OOl What are your favourite songs from Closer to Heaven?
Chris:
I think I like "For all of us". It's a sad weepy song at the
end of the musical. Jonathan: I think my favourite is "Friendly fire",
sung by Frances Barber.
Chris:
She sings it fantastically well. Joemoz: I loved the musical but I have
to say that I think "Caligula" is somewhat misplaced in the
musical, and does not bring the storyline forward - do you agree, and
are you considering changing it?
Jonathan:
We have already changed "Caligula", we agreed with you. It is
now one of the strongest scenes in the show.
Joemoz:
Have you made, or are you planning any substantial changes to the musical,
as compared to the first preview?
Jonathan:
There's lots of small changes each night.
Chris Dahl:
What do you think about Berlin/Germany - did you enjoy the nightfall?
Do you have a favourite club?
Chris: Me
and Neil really like going to Germany. We've been working with a producer
called Chris Zippel in Berlin. I love your sausages.
Sophie:
Any chance to see the musical in another country, in Europe or the USA?
Chris: With any luck. We have investors from Germany, Mexico, New York.
It'd be nice if it
could open
in other cities around the world. It's not a spectacular like Cats, or Phantom Of The Opera. It's a play with music, a smaller
scale production.
Prm2OOl:
Why is Closer to Heaven in such a small theatre? I think PSB likes
it bombastic.
Jonathan:
Because it's an intimate show so at the moment it requires an intimate
space
Chris:
It's our first musical. We didn't want hype or a really big event. We
want people to discover it. We're testing the water to see how it's received.
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice wrote Joseph for a school production
I~ thuk. It's all part of the learning process. When we made our first
record it was released only on twelve-inch imports from New York, so it
wasn't exactly bombastic.
Coaster:
I know it's probably been asked 100 times but why the name "Pet Shop
Boys"?
Jonathan:
Because they both come from pet shop owning families. Chris: Neil has
a chain of pet shops in the north east of England - Tennant's Terriers.
Pikachu: I remember the Pet Shop Boys when I was in my early teens, and
you have been going for a number of years now - when do you plan to retire
and what are your hobbies? Chris: Well we have no plans to retire because
we enjoy making music and there's no real reason to stop. And hobbies,
well, stamp collecting...
Rondicko:
Since you've always disassociated yourselves from Eighties things, why
are you touring the US with Soft Cell? Chris: They're just one act on
one of the most varied, broad and exciting touring bills ever to travel
across Asnerica. Also we really like Soft Cell and David Ball went to
my school. Paninari: We fans hope Closer to Heaven will be released
as video, do you know something about that? Chris: There are no plans
to film Closer to Heaven and release it as a video. I think that
plays and opera etc. don't really work on film, but I'd hope that one
day soon it will be made into a film. I think it'd make a very good film.
Dez: Andrew Lloyd Webber - what is his part in this musical?
Jonathan:
His company are producing the musical, but he has no creative input whatsoever.
Roly: Do you enjoy doing interviews order the Net or prefer face to face?
Chris: I
think I prefer over the Net. You don't have to shave.
Sophie:
Why doesn't Neil sing in the musical?
Why aren't
you really on stage?
Chris: Neither
Neil, me or Jonathan are performing in the musical. We are the writers
and, as anyone who has seen It Couldn’t "Happen Here will
know, me and Neil are not the best actors in the world.
Roxy: Was
your childhood dream to become famous? If not, what was it?
Chris: No,
I had never wanted to become famous and do not regard myself as famous.
I dislike the whole concept of fame and people such as boy-band members
~ho only seek fame -they are shameless. There's a song about it in the
show.
Neutron:
Jonathan, will you give Neil and Chris a part in the new series of Gimme
Gimme Gimme?
Jonathan:
No, I wish it to be a success! Chris: As if we would agree to appear in Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!
Edge2life:
Do you really have an album ready just in case you die called Posthumously? Chris: There are a lot of unreleased tracks lying around in demo form
and I'm sure that they may get released if we both died in a plane crash
or something but the repackaged albums contain some previously unreleased
mixes and new things.
More camber
Boy: Are there plans to release the album from the show? I saw the show
last week and thoroughly enjoyed it. Good luck with it. Chris: Yes there
will be a cast album due in the auturan.
Neutron:
Does writing songs for the new album feel very different from writing
for Closer to Heaven?
Chris: Yes.
The new album is very different in style to the music in Closer to
Heaven. It's quite a different direction, but we're using guitars,
real drum samples and it's not so much dance music, but the songs are
very heartfelt and emotional
and quite
sad, but with very strong melodies, but it's Beautifully
Chris Berlin:
Where does the music come
from? Is
there an orchestra, or is it from tape? Or even live with synchs? Chris:
In the show the music is generated by computer with samplers and electronic
keyboards and there's also a live percussionist -there are no tapes.
Guest SO:
Chris, I thought you thought guitars were dirty. Chris: Yes, I must be
getting dirtier in my old age, but I can't play the guitar; it's Neil.
Claire psb:
Are you going on holiday this year?
Jonathan:
I'm going to Morocco in August and Mauritius in December. Chris: I'm going
to Ibiza. I've never been but I've heard it's very good. Virgin. net:
Thanks everyone for joining this chat with Jonathan Harvey and Chris Lowe.
Jonathan: Go and see the show! Chris: Thanks everyone for the questions,
hope the answers were informative - not everything said is true. Hope
to see you all soon. By the way, the musical is rather good! Keep sending
your photos to the Pet Shop Boys website, because I like seeing what you
all look like.
Even this
is not an accurate version of what was transmitted during the chat. Virgin.net
had removed and re-edited as they chose - all the "Lou’s and suchlike
had gone, presumably because Chris had been annoyed about them, but also
many of the spikiest bits of the conversation, as when Chris announced,
inaccurately, that Neil and Janet Street-Porter were a couple.
"I
want to do another one," reflects Chris in hindsight, "and do
the typing myself. It's very annoying when you don't get the true voice
of the person."
May 29,
2001. It is two days until the opening night of Closer to Heaven. In
the last few days, there have been plenty of worried sleepless nights,
and plenty of changes to the show. After a suggestion by the theatre and
film director Stephen Daidry, who directed Billy Elliot, they
have changed
the end of the show, so that "Positive role model" begins slowly
and builds up, instead of launching straight into itself. (Another suggestion
of his which has been taken up is that Shell should be topless in the
"Nine out of ten" bed scene.) Neil has also completely rewritten
the words of "Positive role model" so that they make more sense
of Straight Dave's character and where he has ended up. Designer Ian MacNeil
has also been to see the show and suggested it should look grubbier and
less theatrical - some of the costumes are being changed with that in
mind, particularly the dancers' costumes at the end. The end of the first
half has also been completely remodelled. When the previews began, "It's
just my little tribute to Caligula, darling!" was performed as though
taking place on the nightclub stage. It is now performed - broken up -
as a rehearsal that afternoon, and an early scene, where Billie Tricks
paints Mile End Lee, has also been changed to make more sense of this:
Mile End Lee is now dressed as a Roman, and Billie is painting him to
get inspiration for her Caligula theme night. (As for Billie herself,
they reminded themselves while doing an interview with The Observer newspaper that her original name was the more Germanic Billie Trix,
and they have decided that this now should be the character's name: in
early copies of the theatre programme it will say Billie Tricks - "collectors
items", Neil notes - and after that she will be known as Billie Trix
forevermore.)
During the
interval, Neil and Chris sneak backstage. They seem happy enough, talking
about whether or not it's a good idea after all for Shell to show her
breasts. (They don't yet know this will only be the beginning. Within
a few weeks, Straight Dave will be licking her nipples and she will be
disappearing beneath the blankets and heading for his groin.)
As Neil
and Chris sit in the production office a woman comes in and takes a Flake
out of the fridge. Chris looks alarmed and says that he was about to eat
it - only now has he realised that it is a prop: the Flake which one of
the tacky celebrities brandishes in the second half of the show during
"Shameless". Though he also
observes
that maybe it's not the correct brand. "It should be a white one,"
he says, "the Anthea Turner one."
They talk
about the Internet, web chats and their web site.
"I'm
really into saying lots of things on the Internet that aren't true,"
says Chris. "That's what it's for."
"It
is," Neil concedes. "It's its other purpose, apart from sex."
"Sex,
lies and video cams," says Chris.
As they
hear the announcement telling the audience to return to their seats, they
hit on an idea. They could get different celebrities to do the interval
announcements each night.
"We
could get Sir Ian McKellen in to do it," says Chris.
"Janet'd
do it," says Neil.
"Kathy
Burke," says Jonathan Harvey.
"Dawn
French," says Neil.
"Liz
Hurley," says Chris.
"Jamie
Bell," says Neil. "It's another of our brilliant ideas."
After the
second half, Chris slips out the back of the theatre. "I'm going
to dash out to McDonalds quickly," he says, and does.
Neil and
Jonathan Harvey discuss some parts of the show which might be improved.
"Author; your leading lady is messing up one of your best lines,"
Neil tells Jonathan. "'I collect sexy working-class boys - I recommend
it to anyone'." Then they discuss the beginning of the "For
all of us" scene, and decide that the underlying music needs to start
right at the beginning of the scene. Neil also frets that the lights go
off Straight Dave right at the show's end, just as he is about to make
his final gesture. "He should be in a glow," Neil says. "Like
Jesus or something."
"He's
supposed to smile?" Jonathan asks.
"He's
supposed to look.. confident," Neil says. "Like he's on his
way."
May 31,
2001. Tonight, Closer to Heaven
officially
opens. It's a hot night. Outside the theatre are photographers and film
cameras. Elton John and Janet Street-Porter make their way through the
crowds; Andrew Lloyd Webber
circulates.
It feels like quite an event, a feeling which only increases when the
performance starts. There's laughter from the start, and the euphoria
during the curtain calls is extensive and unforced. Famous members of
the press are seen applauding keenly, and the word seems to be that they
like it. (The next morning everyone will discover that this is not the
whole picture -see News, pages 3A - but it would be difficult to
get any other impression tonight.)
Afterwards,
there are drinks in the Tapes bar in the theatre basement. Spirits are
high.
"What
a good night that was," says Chris.
"We've
had a fantastic night," says Neil.
A few people
wander back into the empty theatre, and sit in the audience seats, away
from the party. Chris talks to Tom Walker who plays Mile End Lee, and
who he has talked to many times before in the last few weeks. Chris suddenly
says to Tom Walker, "you're not from Manchester?" (Chris thought
he was from Manchester because he studied drama there.)
"Somerset,"
Tom Walker says.
"What
is your real accent?" Chris asks.
"What
I'm talking now."
"It's
very actor-y," Chris comments.
"That's
why he's an actor," intercedes Neil. "My first day at school
they called me Poshie."
They compare
the reactions they've heard.
"Keith
Allen could not believe how good it was," says Chris.
"Ian
McKellen wants to play Billie Trix," says Neil.
Chris, thoroughly
satisfied by the night, decides to go home. He heads off through the stage
door then returns a few minutes later. That way's shut.
Neil leads
a convoy on foot to the after show party at the bar AKA, where revelries
will continue late into the night. Quite a few fans also follow, trailing
down the street behind him. On the way, he stops off at The Ivy restaurant
where some friends were enjoying an after-dinner meal. They have just
left. The doorman asks him how the opening night was.
"It
went very well," says Neil, and gestures behind him. "As you
can see, we've brought half the audience."
Copyright
Areagraphy Ltd 2001: All Articles have been
Taken From Literally 2001 Issue 24
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